joint enterprise

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An activity joined into by two or more people, with common interests, purpose and level of control.

  1. Joint enterprise in the context of business law is an informal relationship between two or more parties in which each party contributes skills, knowledge, resources or money to a achieve a common purpose and is typically limited to a single event or transaction. Joint enterprise should not be confused with joint venture;
  2. Joint enterprise in the context of criminal law and torts refers to a criminal conspiracy or an instance of group negligence. In a joint enterprise each party may be held liable for the wrongdoings of the other participants and the doctrine of joint enterprise is essential to establish a shared liability of parties.

[Last updated in June of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team]